Such a boy

I absolutely LOVE being a mom to my sweet, precious little girl. I love living in the land of baby dolls, dress up, lip gloss, big hair bows, smocked dresses and the most adorable clothes ever. Adam and I always knew we wanted a boy one day. So we were very excited when baby #2 was a boy. One of the thoughts that went through my mind a few times was the fact that boy clothes were no where near as cute as the girl clothes were. But, I have to say that I can now totally disagree with that statement! I seriously have so much fun shopping for Landon. Who knew a button up shirt, khakis, and a pair of Sperry's would look SO adorable on a little boy? Dressing him just like his daddy doesn't hurt either. ;) I have mentioned this a lot lately, but especially since I can compare my two at the age Landon is now, he is so totally a BOY! Adalyn, from a very early age, always had a baby doll or stuffed animal in her arms all the time. She obviously didn't really have "boy" toys lying around but had a few cars, etc. She would hold them,then throw them down, and go on to something else. I would watch other boys in her class at Church and they would just be laying on the floor rolling a truck back and forth. I would think, "Oh my gosh! Adalyn would never sit so still for that length of time just to roll a toy back and forth. And what do you know. I am now watching Landon do the same exact thing. And I love it! He says "tractor" and "combine" so much throughout the day it's comical. He has tractors, trucks, cars, and bull dozers that he pushes around the house all day long. I love watching him do it. He makes "car sounds" like, "vrooooom" as he pushes them along. He will find a pillow, blanket, or toy on the floor and he will make his tractors "go up a hill". He will be sitting on the floor and will roll them on his leg then up his belly all while making his sounds. He stands by Adams chair and on the arm of the recliner, he rolls them there back and forth, back and forth. I never really quite grasped how much fun a little boy would truly be. Until I had my sweet Landon. I love that my two are so totally different, as they obviously should be. I love the balance we have of "girl stuff" and "boy stuff". Now, don't get me wrong, if I had two girls, I would be so incredibly happy and blessed and I would be thankful God chose me to be a "girl mom". But, he chose me to be a momma to both a girl and a boy and for that, I will soak up all the girly things, the dirty boy things, experiencing different sports, and shopping for both styles with a smile on my face! :)

Here are just a few pictures of Landon, zoned out in his little "boy" world, playing with his tractors.

Boys really are so much fun!!

My Granddaddy

I am a good week or more behind in blogging. I honestly just haven't felt up to it lately. My Granddaddy passed away last Monday, April 15. I left work after receiving the call from my mom that morning. I was devastated. Even though it was "expected", it is still so hard. My Granddaddy was diagnosed with Melanoma in December. It had spread to his Lungs, Spine, Brain, Lymph Nodes, and Adrenal Gland. I don't think I left anything out. So basically, we have known for a while about this but it really did take him a long time to go "down hill". In January, my dad and uncle decided to take him on a spontaneous trip. He had never flown on an airplane and had never been out West. They went to Las Vegas, stayed on the strip, and visited all the sites, including the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. In February, he started radiation on his brain only. This lasted for two weeks. After the first week of radiation, I couldn't even tell anything was different. (appearance wise)By the end of the second week, his head just looked red, kind of like a sun burn. He did excellent during those two weeks and his comment to me was, "That was a piece of cake". He told me he was nervous to start his first round of Chemo. Or maybe I should rephrase that. It was called, "Infusion". Basically the same thing as chemo if you ask me. It's administered through an IV, but if I remember correctly, it was "newer" than Chemo. He had to be at Vanderbilt that day for 3 hours while the drug was put into his body. My days, weeks, and months are running together, but I'm thinking by now this was done early March? After that was done, he started to slowly go down hill. He was to wait 3 weeks and go back for another treatment. Somewhere during all this, we learned that the radiation on his brain didn't help one bit. The spots on his brain grew larger and new spots appeared. When he was due back for another treatment, the doctor basically said his body couldn't handle another treatment. My Granddaddy said, "well, we gotta do something". So, he started a chemo pill. The pill is so strong you couldn't touch it. It had to be poured into a cup, then taken by mouth. Anyway, after doing that for 1 week, he was wiped out. He started sleeping all day long pretty much. He was so weak. During the week, he always stayed in Franklin at my uncle and aunts house. He was that much closer to Vanderbilt. On the weekends, he would go home. My birthday weekend, (March 23) if I recall correctly was the first weekend my dad had to stay with him at his house. He had fallen a few times prior to that weekend and really wasn't eating a whole lot so he was needing extra help by this point. The week leading up to Easter weekend, he started to get really, really bad and wasn't able to come home that weekend. That was the first time through this whole situation he wasn't strong enough to go home. He could barely walk, eat, sit up, etc. After Easter Sunday, he went to Vanderbilt for his appt on that Wednesday. The doctor admitted him and said we would be discussing Hospice options during his stay. Saturday comes, and we load up the kids and head to Nashville to visit him. He was due to come to Manchester on that Monday to go to the nursing home, but I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we didn't go visit him and he passed away while still in the hospital. We had a great visit. He was not doing well, but he was able to talk to us some and he would smile every time he saw Adalyn or Landon. He would fall in and out of sleep. We stayed for a few hours that day then came back home. Monday, he was transported to the nursing home. (Or was it Sunday? I'm telling you, my days are still running together) I spent that week (April 8-12) visiting him on my hour lunch break. He knew who I was, he would drink from time to time, eat a bite of chocolate here and there, but other than that, he slept and when he was awake, I watched him moan in pain. He was suffering right in front of our eyes. It was pitiful and so heartbreaking. I would never, ever wish that agony upon anyone. On Friday, I bought groceries during my lunch so after work, I headed home to get Adalyn so we could go visit him. Adam and Landon headed out to bush hog so it was just us girls. My dad was already there by the time we arrived. Granddaddy smiled ear to ear when he saw Adalyn. She had painted a butterfly for him and we hung it up next to all the pictures we brought in. We stayed maybe 30 or so minutes. We were able to talk to him some, but other than that he was either dozing off or moaning because of his pain. It was so pitiful and Adalyn was kind of starting to get a little scared or maybe I should say, nervous. So we decided to go ahead and leave not knowing that would be the last time we would get to see him. He passed away around 1:00 AM on Monday, April 15. I worked in the funeral industry for years, and I finally understood a statement I would hear from time to time while working at the funeral home. "It's such a relief". When I would hear families say that, I would have to admit, without showing it on my face, in my head I was thinking, "What?! Really??? What are you talking about?" But, I now see the meaning behind it. When you watch someone lay in front of you and literally suffer right in front of your eyes, the word "relief" is very appropriate. I made the comment to Adam that I now know what people meant when they said that. So last week was very long. I am so thankful that I work for the school system and they have such awesome benefits. I was able to take 3 bereavement days and be with my entire family. We had amazing weather so I know we were all thankful for that. We were showered with prayers, visits, phone calls, texts, hugs, and food. OH the FOOD! Thank you to everyone who sent something or stopped by. Thanks to my friends for your support and coming to the funeral home to be with me. My family has been truly blessed by my Granddaddy. His sense of humor will definitely be missed. I am SO lucky I was able to spend 26 years with him. (and 24 with my Grandmother) Their house was my second home growing up. Way out in the country, the mountains their back yard. It has always been such a relaxing place to be at. You know what I am even more thankful of? That Adalyn and Landon knew my Granddaddy and had such a great relationship with him. If two weeks had ever gone by and my kids hadn't seen him, that was very uncommon. For soooo many reasons, I am just blessed, thankful, appreciative, honored, and the list goes on, that they were able to get to know him, hug and kiss him, play with him, and just simply to be around him. My Granddaddy was the hardest worker, the best gardener, and the funniest man I knew. Chocolate and a nice cold Coca Cola was his favorite. He loved his sweets! I have to be honest about something. I really didn't know how "serious" Melanoma was. I always have heard, "Oh I'm getting a spot taken off", and that's it. I have heard that countless times from multiple people. My Granddaddy had a few taken off throughout his adult life, but I never gave it a second thought. "Oh, just another spot..." I must sound stupid, but I don't think it ever occurred to me that it would really spread. And that's what happened to him. He had a spot taken off his face last April, and in November, he got sick. Flu like symptoms. After tests and scans, we learned the melanoma had spread internally. Our Granddaddy will forever be missed!

18 Month Check-Up

Last Wednesday Adam and I took Landon for his 18 month appointment. He loved playing in the waiting room. A newborn baby was in there while we were waiting and he kept pointing at her and saying "baby" and putting his little hands under his chin and swaying back and forth. That his sign for baby. It is the sweetest thing. Once we were called back, we stripped him and had him weighed.
( No clue why it's sideways! Sorry!)
He weighed 28 lbs 4 oz-- our little chunky monkey!!

While we waited on Dr. Eastham to come in, we twirled him in the chair, looked out the windows, and read books. We could also hear a baby crying in the room next to us. Landon said over and over, "Baby! Baby! Baby!". When we didn't hear the baby crying anymore, I said the baby went night night. He then said, " Shhhhhh." (this is him shushing)He then said, "baby night night" and laid down on the floor. He is just too sweet.

Once Dr. Eastham came in, it took him a few minutes to warm up to him. He hates when he looks in his ears. He just doesn't like to be "pinned" down. Other than that, he did great! He has a monkey wrapped around his stethoscope. Landon started making his monkey sounds and putting his arms to his sides and signing "monkey".

We have a big boy on our hands! His vocabulary has really exploded recently and he talks all day long. He is also making two word sentences. He's growing up so fast!

Saturday night while I was getting the kids bath ready, I had already stripped Landon down and he was standing by the tub waiting on me to put him in. Well, he pees in the floor. I didn't know he had until I grabbed the shampoo and soap and as I was putting it down, I saw a big yellow puddle. :) During his bath, he was standing up putting toys on the side of the tub. He proceeds to pee again. This time, he actually saw the pee come out. It was then that Adam and I realized he had probably never watched where his pee comes from. It was hilarious. He just stared and laughed and laughed. Oh course he was trying to grab his pee. That made him (and us) laugh even harder. Adalyn was pretty grossed out by her brother peeing in their bath water. He kept saying, "Pee Pee" and "Potty" over and over again. While he was standing, he was bending over so far to check out what had just happened, he kept dunking his face in the water. It was priceless and a funny memory for us to have! I love little boys! There's just something about them!

Easter 2013

I am just now blogging about Easter because I finally have enough energy to do so. Last weekend (Easter weekend) we all got a stomach virus. I have an idea where we picked it up at but I guess no one really knows for sure. Saturday morning at 6:00 AM, I hear "Momma Momma" over the monitor. Just like every morning, I make my way to Landon's room to get him. As I open his door, a smell that is so strong about made me want to throw up. As soon as I looked at him and his bed, I saw throw up everywhere. I took off his pj's and cleaned him up. About 30 minutes later, he threw up in the living room. This time, partly on me and part on the floor. Ohhh me, here we gooo! We stripped and went straight to the bath tub.Poor little guy. Since he threw up that second time, I definitely knew he had a stomach virus. In my head, I had already told myself that we would all probably get it. While I was washing myself and Landon, Adam was cleaning the huge mess up. We had to wash just about everything. Crib sheet, blankets, stuffed animals, crib bumper, living room throw and pillow, plus all of our clothes. Our house smelled of throw up and it disgusted me so bad! By 9:00 that Saturday morning, Landon was done with the virus. He took his normal morning nap, he played, laughed, he was back to normal. Throughout the day I was still cautious as to what I fed him, but other than that, I considered him back to himself. Sunday morning, (Easter) Adalyn comes in our room at 3:30 AM saying her throat felt funny. She then ran to our bathroom and started throwing up. (Another reason I love her age so much, she knows to throw up in the toilet!) We put her in bed with us and every 30-40 minutes she had to go back to the bathroom to throw up again. Poor thing. Adam, Adalyn and myself hardly got any sleep at all. Once we finally got up that morning around 6:15 or so, she looked much better. She asked to eat something, she was playing like normal, etc. Of all Sundays to be sick, Easter Sunday... really?! Adalyn and I ended up staying home and the boys went on to Church. She threw up for the last time at 9:30. We cuddled up and watched her new Tinkerbell movie the Easter bunny brought her. By 11:30, both she and I were wore out. Not getting much sleep was really taking a toll on us. I scooped her up and laid her in our bed. I took a nice nap with her. When I woke up, Adam and Landon were already home from Church and Landon was down taking a nap. I sat on the couch and told Adam I wasn't feeling right. Remember, in December we all four had the stomach virus so the "feeling" I was feeling was still very fresh in my memory and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Adalyn ended up sleeping for 3 hours and when she got up, she was 100% back to herself. I on the other hand, was not feeling too hot and at 3:30, the virus had finally gotten me. I spent the next 5 1/2 hours in the bathroom. Well, back and forth between my bed and the bathroom. You guys, I seriously thought I was dying and a few times during my misery, I do believe I recall me wishing I were dead. (Obviously not for real so calm down. I just felt that bad.) Within 5 1/2 hours, I lost 6 lbs. By 9:30, I was able to fall asleep. Monday morning when I woke up I felt much better but I was weak and my body was sore from throwing up so hard. Gross I know. It is what it is! Adam went to work and I still had Lynn to come keep the kids. I didn't have the energy to change a diaper, fix breakfast, snacks and lunch, or play a whole lot. I took a shower and we all went outside and walked and my energy started coming back. That was last Monday (April 1). On Tuesday, I went back to work. Adam at this time was still feeling fine. I got a phone call from him at 11:30 that day saying he was on his way home because he didn't feel good. He slept the rest of the day. He just had a bad stomach ache and didn't feel like eating, but he never threw up. (lucky dog) He still didn't feel 100% so he stayed home from work on Wednesday. By Wednesday night, he was much much better. Adam and I have barely been eating and it's now been a week since it effected us. It's funny how kids recover SO much quicker and it takes just about everything out of adults! So with all that being said, we didn't get to celebrate Easter with our family. My Granddaddy at the time was at my uncle and aunts house in Franklin and we were all going to go there after Church. Well, that obviously didn't happen. So, since we weren't able to celebrate our family traditions on Easter, we decided to do it yesterday after Church! My dad was at Vanderbilt with my Granddad so it was just us and my mom. We had ham, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rolls and deviled eggs--my favorite! That's part of the reason I was so sad I missed our Easter lunch- the deviled eggs! Thanks momma for making them for me! We scaled the amount of food down a lot since it was just Adam, my mom and myself eating it. Adalyn and Landon don't count since they don't eat as much of it as we do. Landon actually slept while we ate, then Adam and I went and laid down with Adalyn and we all three had a nice nap. My mom was in charge of listening for Landon to wake up. :) Once we were all awake, we got dressed in our Easter attire and headed outside for pictures! You know me, we must color coordinate!
My mom took a hundred (or so it seemed) pictures of us. Landon is the hardest baby to photograph. He is not interested at all in looking at the camera. You should see the ones that are on my camera. They make me laugh and it makes me realize how normal it is to not have your 18 month old cooperate for pictures! Adalyn does pretty well 98% of the time-- she is so silly!

I always seem to forget to get a picture of Adam and I. Pre-kids, that was no problem. I took hundreds. Literally. So I made sure to get an updated one of us this time :)

Random--

Landon didn't really get the concept of finding the eggs. Instead, he found two sticks... one for each hand. He's such a boy. We were finally able to get his attention to all the eggs that were laying around and he put them in his basket... but of course, with those sticks in hand. :)

Adalyn loved finding the eggs of course. We told her next year, Landon would give her a run for her money for sure. Since when did she get so big??
Aren't they cute?!


The weather was so beautiful yesterday and we spent the rest of the afternoon outside. Here's one more of me and my mini me!

We left around 5:30 and headed to Church. When we picked the kids up in the nursery, Adalyn was wiped out! He had woke her up earlier in the day so we could do the Easter egg hunt. She asked for pizza and "Handy Manny" when we got home then went straight to bed. It was a long, fun day for us!

Read about Easter 2011 here and Easter 2012 here!

Spring Break

I'm just now getting around to blogging about our Spring Break which was March 25-29. I have to say, I absolutely love that Adam and I both work for the school system. We seriously have the best schedule ever and I wouldn't trade it for a thing. Spring Break was of course cold. I can't really remember the last time we had decent weather for Spring Break. It snowed Monday and Tuesday (ugh! I was SO over the snow!) it rained, and then the sun finally came out towards the end of the week. On Wednesday, I had a doctors appointment at Baptist so I took Adalyn along with me. I decided to put the DVD players in the car so she would be occupied with something. I think she chose Cinderella. She was a gem at my appointment. We play "doctor" so much at home, she felt right at place. She laid on the table and told me everything I needed to do for her. I know I have said this a lot lately, but I love this age. She is so so so easy to take places. After my first appointment, we went to Centennial Park to walk around for a bit. (I turned the picture. I have no idea why it's still sideways. Just turn your head :)

We then went to Wendy's for lunch. We both had chicken nuggets and fries. Then we headed back to Baptist for my second appointment. While we waited, she colored and played with my phone. Once we were finally finished, I bought her a bag of chips and some juice, put another movie on for the car ride, and she was set. She ended up falling asleep about 10 minutes before we got home. Figures. Once home, we played for a bit, ate supper, then made our way to Church. On Thursday, we spent most of the day at home and once the kids woke up from their naps, we took them to Jerry and Nancy's. Tori and Hunter were staying the night so they wanted the kids to stay, too! We had them dropped off around 3:30 then Adam and I left. Wahoo! Date night for us! We went straight to Wal-Mart to buy groceries, rented a movie, stuffed our faces at Jiffy Burger, then headed home to do nothing! Adam had missed Grey's Anatomy the week before we found it OnDemand and watched it before the new episode came on at 8. After Grey's went off, we watched the movie we rented then went to bed. Friday morning, we slept until 7:30! That's really late for us. It was so nice. We ate breakfast, I think I made a shirt real quick, then we headed to Pelham to see the kids and to farm the rest of the day. It was kind of a cloudy day but it was a lot warmer than earlier in the week so we were outside just about all day long. Nancy also cooked a huge lunch to celebrate my birthday the weekend before. It was delicious! Landon took his usual morning nap and woke up as we were sitting down to eat. After lunch, we all went back outside to work. We take the kids with us too so they can be around the animals and help us if they can. We were picking up limbs/sticks around the pig lot and Adalyn got straight to work. We let her go off on her own and she knows not to touch the hot fence and not to jump in the huge mud puddle that the pigs roll around in. Other than that, she can do whatever. It was so fun to watch her pick up sticks and trash that we found. Then she got a big stick and tried to herd the pigs. They run for their life when she comes after them. It's hilarious. We rode the 4-wheeler, put up a new fence for the cows, and cleaned up. Landon loves our 4-wheeler. He is trying to say "4-wheeler" and it getting closer and closer at doing so successfully. He points and squeals until we take him for a ride. I decided I would ride him around for a bit to get it out of his system. At one point, I noticed he was moving around like jello in my arms. I looked down at him and noticed he was really sleepy. From that point on, I made sure I hit all the bumps I could. Within about 3 minutes, he was leaning forward asleep. I put my hand out and let his head rest in my hand while I drove him to Jerry. Jerry held him in the truck and drove him out to the house, laid him on the couch, and he slept for about 2 hours or so. After we were done working, we loaded up the kids and headed home. We were wore out! Oh, I think Adalyn napped sometime during the day, too. That's what I get for not blogging about our Spring Break right after it happened- I start forgetting. All in all, it was a great day! We got a lot accomplished and had a lot of fun.

My 26th Birthday

I had the best birthday weekend! I started celebrating Thursday by going out to lunch with the girls at work and ate Mexican and of course they put the hat on me and had to sing with me. It was a lot of fun and I was stuffed and tired the rest of the afternoon! I didn't even eat dinner Thursday night because I was still so full. On Friday, we were all able to leave the office early so as soon as I got home, Adam and I packed the kids clothes and food since they were staying with Granna that night. We made a trip to Pizza Hut on our way to pick up my birthday dinner. :) I absolutely love pizza hut pizza so it was a no brainer when my mom asked me what I wanted for dinner. As soon as we got there, we sat down and ate. I was starving so I inhaled my pizza pretty quickly. Landon ate two pieces by himself. I think he will be a pizza lover, too. After pizza, Adalyn couldn't wait to give me my birthday gift from my parents. She wanted to help me with my card.

We then had my birthday "cake". Since I do not like cake, my mom made me this amazing oreo dessert and oh my goodness it was delicious!!!!!!

My birthday dinner was delicious. My dad wasn't there since he is having to stay with my Granddaddy now on the weekends so I met him half way and gave him the rest of the pizza and oreo dessert. When I got back, Adam and I kissed the kids and made our way home! Having a night to ourselves here and there is worth so so much. We settled in and watched HGTV for the night. Saturday morning (March 23) we slept in (wahoo!) and I woke up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers, oreos AND honey bar-b-que twist chips- my favorite! Even thought they are my favorite, I never buy them. The "big" bag they make is a lot smaller than a normal size bag of chips and there is no way I'm spending over $3.00 on a bag of chips when you don't even get a lot! Plus, they aren't exactly healthy for you (who cares, right?). With all that said, anytime he buys me a bag of those chips, I get so excited. I'm telling ya, this boy knows just what I like. I am very easy to please and VERY easy to buy for. After we ate breakfast, Hope stopped by and brought me my gift. She got my 2010 blog entries printed into a book! Oh what a treasure this is to me! I can't tell you how many times I randomly scroll through old blog posts of mine. It's so easy to forget the little things and that is why I am SO SO glad I blog. Now, I just need to get 2011, 2012 and of course 2013 printed to a book. I know Adam and I will LOVE reading back on our lives one day! Really, it is a true treasure to me so thank you Hope! Once she left, we finished getting ready and made our way to Murfreesboro. We spent the entire day shopping and eating. It was so much fun and I actually made myself buy something for me! I never do. Seriously. I'm like a year or so behind on fashion and technology and I don't even care. So, since it was my birthday after all, I decided to go all out! I even got an iPhone thanks to my husband. He basically made me, I was fine with my other crappy smart phone, but I didn't argue too much and got what I wanted. :) We took a break from shopping and ate at Outback. Steaks, baked potatoes and (lots) bread, yummm. Couldn't think of a better birthday lunch! We literally shopped until we dropped. Once we decided we were shopped out, we headed back to Manchester to pick up our sweet kiddos. It is SO nice to have time with just you and your spouse. It was much needed and I thank my momma for keeping them Friday night and allll day Saturday! I had a fabulous 26th birthday!